KUSA-TV
KUSA-TV, Channel 9, is an NBC affiliated TV station in Denver, Colorado. KUSA-TV is owned by the Gannett Company & is a sister station to KTVD (ch. 20), Denver's MyNetworkTV affiliate. Both stations share studio facilities in Denver & KUSA's transmitter is atop Lookout Mountain in Golden, Colorado. History The station 1st went on the air on October 12, 1952 as KBTV, the 2nd TV station in Denver (KFEL-TV, now KWGN-TV, was first by about 3 months). It was owned originally by Mullins Broadcasting. The station carried programming from CBS, ABC & NBC, but was a primary CBS affiliate. Ch. 9 lost CBS to KLZ-TV (ch. 7, now KMGH-TV) in November 1953 & lost NBC to KOA-TV (ch. 4, now KCNC-TV) a month later, leaving it with ABC. The station struggled in the ratings for some years, in part because ABC was not on par with the other major networks until the 1970s. In 1979, the station was sold to Combined Communications, which would be merged into the Gannett Company later that year. The station changed it's call letters to the current KUSA-TV on March 19, 1984. In 1995, KCNC-TV, then an NBC-owned station, became a CBS affiliate as a result of a complex ownership/affiliation deal between Westinghouse Electric Corporation, NBC & CBS. At the same time, McGraw-Hill, owner of longtime CBS affiliate KMGH-TV, entered into a network affiliation agreement with ABC, thereby causing KMGH to become an ABC station. Gannett then entered into an affiliation agreement with NBC that included, among others, KUSA, which became an NBC affiliate in the very early morning hours of September 10, 1995. In April 2004, KUSA became the 1st TV station in the Denver market, the 1st Gannett-owned station & the 2nd station nationally to produce newscasts in HD. In April 2005, KUSA started broadcasting NBC Wx+ on it's 2nd DT sub ch. (9.2) & Comcast digital cable ch. 249. Wx+ can also be viewed on KUSA's website. In August 2007, KUSA started the 9 News High School Hotshots Program, which incorporated 12 Colorado High Schools: Berthoud High School, Broomfield High School, Fort Collins High School, Greeley West High School, Lakewood High School, Lamar High School, Limon High School, Montbello High School, Ponderosa High School, Ralston Valley High School, Thunder Ridge High School & Wheat Ridge High School. The "Hotshots" where students from each school, selected by the administration & staff of the school, who filmed the school's football games. The program has since extended to cover winter sports @ the schools. The "Hotshots" footage can be found on KUSA's website. In September 2004, KUSA started broadcasting a lifestyle magazine called Colorado & Company. It airs after the Today Show's 9 AM hour on KUSA. When the show started, it also aired on KPXC-TV, but that ended when NBC ended it's joint ownership of PAX. Colorado & Company is produced LIVE each weekday morning from the KUSA studios & features paid segments by local companies. News Operations For over 30 years, KUSA's newscasts, which are known as "9 News", dominated the ratings in Denver. In February of 1976, Ed Sardella & John Rayburn anchored the weekday edition of 9 News @ 10 to the top of the ratings, overtaking longtime leader KOA-TV. Rayburn was succeeded by Mike Landess in 1977. He would remain paired with Sardella as 1 of Denver's top anchor teams for 16 years until leaving for KUSA's sister station WXIA-TV in Atlanta in late 1993. Sardella retired from the anchor desk in 2000, but returned briefly to replace Jim Benemann, who left for KCNC. Landess, after anchoring @ WTTG in Washington D.C., returned to Denver on rival KMGH-TV. In the November 2007 sweeps, KCNC's 5 PM news surged over KUSA for the 1st time in over a decade & also overtook KUSA in overall sign-on to sign-off numbers. This is partially due to KCNC's recent highlights in investigative reports & human interest stories, though also largely due to CBS' primetime lineup strengths & NBC's primetime lineup weaknesses. However, overall, KUSA is still the #1 station for news despite the closest ratings between KUSA, KCNC & KMGH ever. On September 5 2006, KUSA launched a daily half-hour 9 PM newscast on sister station KTVD, to coincide with that station's affiliation switch from UPN to My Network TV. On December 5 2006, KUSA launched a 2 hour extension of it's weekday morning newscast on KTVD. KUSA now produces weekend morning newscasts @ 6 AM on KTVD. In addition to it's main studios in downtown Denver, KUSA operates a "Northern Newsroom" out of the offices of the Fort Collins-based Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper. The newsroom is staffed by photojournalist Gary Wolfe & reporter Adam Chodak. The station also operates a "Mountain Newsroom" in Silverthorne staffed by Matt Renoux. KUSA-TV News Team 9 News Anchors * Gary Shapiro - weekday mornings & Noon * Kyle Dyer - weekday mornings & Noon * Mark Koebrich - 4 PM weekdays, 9 PM on KTVD weekdays, reporter * Kim Christiansen - 4 PM weekdays, reporter * Bob Kendrick - 5, 6 & 10 PM weekdays * Adele Arakawa - 5, 6 & 10 PM weekdays * Shawn Patrick - weekend mornings, reporter * Cheryl Preheim - weekend mornings, reporter * Ward Lucas - weekend evenings, investigative reporter * Carrie McClure - weekend evenings, reporter * Bazi Kanani - 9 PM on KTVD weekdays, reporter * Kirk Montgomery - 4 PM weekdays Entertainment Anchor * Gregg Moss - Business Reporter 9 News Wx+ Meteorologists * Kathy Sabine - Chief Forecaster, weekday evenings. Also provides daily weather forecasts for the Denver Post & the Fort Collins Coloradoan (AMS/NWA) * Nick Carter - weekday mornings & noon (AMS) * Becky Ditchfield - weekday mornings & noon (AMS) * Marty Coniglio - weekend evenings (AMS) * Ashton Altieri - weekend mornings & NBC Wx+ meteorologist (AMS-CBM/NWA) 9 News Sports * Drew Soicher - weekday evenings * Susie Wargin - weekday mornings * Rod Mackey - weekend evenings * Jesse Horne - High school sports reporter, "Prep Rally" anchor 9 News Reporters * Anastaysia Bolton - General Assignment Reporter * Adam Chodak - Northern Newsroom Reporter * Kim Christiansen - Anchor/General Assignment Reporter * Kyle Clark - General Assignment Reporter * Amelia Earhart - Sky 9 Traffic Reporter * Nelson Garcia - Education/Technology Reporter * Jesse Horne - Sports Reporter * Bazi Kanani - Anchor/General Assignment Reporter * Mark Koebrich - Consumer Reporter * Ward Lucas - Anchor/General Assignment Reporter * Rod Mackey - Sports Reporter * Carrie McClure - Anchor/General Assignment Reporter * Heidi McGuire - Backpack Journalist/General Assignment Reporter * Ben McKee - Backpack Journalist/Community Relations Journalist * Kirk Montgomery - Entertainment Reporter * Graeme Nistler - Traffic.com Reporter * Shawn Patrick - Anchor/General Assignment Reporter * Cheryl Preheim - Anchor/General Assignment Reporter * Matt Renoux - Mountain Newsroom Reporter * Adam Schrager - Political Reporter * Jace Larson - 9 Wants to Know/Investigative Reporter * Deborah Sherman - 9 Wants to Know/Investigative Reporter * TaRhonda Thomas - General Assignment Reporter * Thanh Truong - General Assignment Reporter * Chris Vanderveen - General Assignment Reporter * Simone Wilkinson - Business/General Assignment Reporter * Paula Woodward - 9 Wants To Know/Investigative Reporter 9 News Contributors * Dr. James Rouse - Nutrition Expert (now Featured only on 9 News.com) * Steve Spangler - Featured on the Morning & Afternoon news (Science Experiments) Former 9 News Personalities * Jim Benemann - anchor, 2000-03; now @ KCNC in Denver * Neal Browne - reporter * Heather Cabot - Reporter, 1997-2000; went to ABC News' World News Now (Jan, 2005-Dec, 2005). Currently a Web Life Editor for Yahoo. * Kevin Corke - sports anchor; now with NBC Nightly News * Tom Costello - reporter, early 1990s; now @ NBC News as a correspondent for NBC Nightly News & MSNBC * John Cromwell - meteoroligist * Gary Cruz - sports anchor; now @ KPHO in Phoenix, Arizona * Frank Currier - anchor/reporter, 1972-1979; longtime CBS News correspondent & now a Journalism Professor @ Syracuse University * Ginger Delgado - Police Beat Reporter 1996-2005, now a reporter & fill-in anchor @ KWGN in Denver. * Dan Dennison - Western slope newsroom reporter, 1982-1995; now news director @ KHNL in Honolulu, Hawaii * Rick DeReyes - Reporter, 1984-1986 * Fred Dressler - political reporter & station editorial director; later an executive with Time Warner Cable (deceased) * Tom Green - sports anchor; now @ KWGN in Denver * Ed Greene - meteorologist, 1995-2001; Now @ KCNC in Denver * Leanne Gregg - reporter, 1996-2000; now @ NBC's NewsChannel, based out of KUSA's newsroom * Taunia Hottman - Sky 9 reporter, 2004-07; Now Living in New York City with her husband & doing freelance work. * Paul Johnson - former reporter; last known to be living in New York as a stay-@-home father * Brian Joyce - sports reporter; left to pursue a career outside of TV * Jinah Kim - reporter; now @ NBC's NewsChannel * Bill Kuster - weather anchor, 1979-96; (deceased) * Tony La Monica - Traffic Reporter, 1998-2004; does voiceover work in the Denver area * Mike Landess - anchor, 1977-93; now @ KMGH in Denver * Anita Lopez - anchor/reporter; now working as a real estate broker in Boulder, Colorado, as well as anchoring the Comcast Local Edition on CNN Headline News * Jayson Luber - traffic reporter, part time fill-in while working full time @ KOA-AM; now @ KMGH in Denver * Bertha Lynn - reporter, 1976-81; now @ KMGH in Denver * Cristina Mendonsa - anchor/reporter, 1991-1995; now @ KXTV in Sacramento, California * Ray Metoyer - reporter/ fill in anchor/ 1986-1991; now Executive Producer @ Townhall Productions in Atlanta, GA * Mike Nelson - chief meteorologist, 1991-2004; now @ KMGH in Denver * Quynh Nguyen - reporter, 2000-2008 * Nick O'Kelly - meteorologist, 2004-2007; left to go into private business with a company called ReFlight * Blake Olson - sports reporter; now with Altitude Sports & Entertainment * Peter Peelgrane - Sky 9 Pilot, ?-1992; (deceased) * Andrew Resnik - weekend morning anchor, 2001-03; fired after drug arrest * Rob "Sunny" Roseman - Meteorologist, 1977-1981; now @ KWGN in Denver * Leon "Stormy" Rottman - meteorologist, 1969-93; (deceased) * Ed Sardella - anchor, 1974-2004; now retired, but serves as host of "Let's Talk" on Denver metro government access ch. 8 * Roger Wolfe - Northern newsroom reporter, 1985-June 2006; now retired * Chip Yost - Investivative Reporter, 2004-05; now @ KOLD In Tuscon * Ron Zappolo - sports anchor, 1990-2000; now a news anchor @ KDVR in Denver * Tony Zarella - sports anchor; now @ WOIO in Cleveland, Ohio News & Station Presentation Newscast Titles *''9 News Action Center'' (1976-1984) *''KUSA-9 News'' (1984-1995) *''9 News'' (1995-present) KUSA-TV Station Slogans *''Colorado's News Leader'' (1976-2008) *''Colorado's On-Line News Leader'' (June 1996-present; used only on 9 News.com) *''Where News Comes First'' (April 2004-present) *''The Networks of 9 News, Colorado's HD News Leader'' (May 12, 2008-present) 9 News Trivia * When NBC partnered with PAX TV in the late 1990s, KUSA rebroadcast it's 6 & 10 PM newscasts Monday through Friday on KPXC-TV. This ended in 2005 when NBC ended it's agreement with PAX. * The weather forecasts are typically presented outside, in the "9 Back Yard". The back yard is simply a courtyard, with a chroma key (bluescreen) wall & a robo cam. Weather forecasts for The Today Show & updates on NBC Wx+ are done from a chroma key wall inside the weather center. * According to their newscast closings from March 11, 2007 to September 26 2007, the 9 News Networks are 9 News.com (their website), 9 News Now (their ticker), 9 News Wx+ (their version of NBC Wx+) & My 20. As of September 27 2007, the 9 News Networks also include m.9news.com (Their smaller version of 9 News.com for Palm Pilots & other Mobile devices) * The station stopped providing weather forecasts for KOA-AM on January 1, 2008 & entered a partnership with Entercom Communications to provide daily weather forecasts for KALC, KEZW, KQMT & KOSI. * KUSA broadcasts the Gannett ID & Sounder (The "Death Star") after 9 News @ 6 Monday-Friday only, while some Gannett stations play the ID & Sounder hourly & occasionally @ the introduction of newscasts, while some do not @ all. * KUSA served as de facto NBC affiliate for Rapid City, South Dakota, from 1995, when KEVN flipped to FOX until 2000, when KNBN went on the air. * The KUSA News Package (created by Third Street Music) was commissioned by KUSA in 1995, making it 1 of the 2 Gannett-owned NBC affiliated stations to use a custom news package by Third Street Music. KUSA's sister station, KARE in Minneapolis-St. Paul commissioned the KARE 11 News Theme for it's newscasts since 1996. On October 15 2008, KUSA stopped using the music in favor of a standardized music package composed by Rampage Music New York, which is used by other Gannett stations; however, the theme is still used for talent bumpers & closes. * When 9 News unveiled it's new set in 1996, the set was used in the NBC Movie Asteroid. DTV On or before February 17 2009, KUSA-TV will return to it's DT broadcasts to it's analog ch. #, 9. Translators The Denver market includes large portions of Colorado, Nebraska & Wyoming. KUSA & NBC serve this vast area with 1 of the largest translator networks in the country. (All translators on this list are in Colorado unless otherwise listed) * K41EV - Akron * K49EX - Anton * K02FW - Ashcroft * K19FH - Ashcroft * K06HU - Aspen * K06BX - Axial Basin * K07KR - Basalt * K59BZ - Broadmoor * K59AP - Bethune/Burlington * K10LW - Carbondale * K48IC - Carbondale * K24CH - Cortez * K55KN-D - Cortez * K03CK - Craig * K04GS - Crested Butte, ETC * K58AA - Crystal, ETC * K02GJ - Delta, ETC * K02JD - East Elk Creek * K08OF-D - Estes Park * K61AA - Estes Park * K69AX - Flagler-Seibert * K39BT - Fraser, ETC * K02IK - Gateview, ETC * K12KP - Glen Haven * K09DC - Glenwood Springs * K07JM - Grand Vally, ETC * K04DH - Gunnison * K64AQ - Hartsel, ETC * K41IT - Haxtun * K28FX - Idalia & S. Yuma Cty * K55JC - Julesburg * K13GI - Leadville * K11LM - Lower Frying Pan River * K50AS - Marvine Creek Campground * K48CL - Meeker * K06JJ - Meeker, ETC * KXHD-LP - Montrose * K11JZ - New Castle, ETC * K09QA - Paonia, ETC. * K63CX - Parlin, ETC. * K64AV - Piceance Creek * K08JZ - Pitkin-Ohio, CO * K18GM - Pleasant Valley * K12LX - Powder Horn Valley * K04HP - Red Stone * K09XN - Red Stone (NBC/Universal-Owned Translator) * K06HF - Salida, ETC. * K46DB - Sapinero * K57CS - Sargents * K04HH - Snowmass-At-Aspen * K10KK - Somerset * K56GL - Sterling ETC. * K39HE - Woody Creek * K44GQ - Woody Creek (NBC/Universal-Owned Translator) * K11LW - Woody Creek * K52FZ - Wray * K07GK - Yampa * K38AD - Yuma External links *9 News' Website *KUSA, 9 News' Wireless *KTVD, My 20's Website *Colorado & CO's Website *Gannett Broadcasting's Website